In modern English, the word “push-ups” appeared only in the last century – in 1905 in the United States this exercise started calling «push up», and in 1950 came the British title «press up». Earlier, an exercise called the «floor dip».
Despite this, thanks to the ease of implementation, recognizable and now variations of push-ups occurred in almost all ancient cultures and history of this exercise has at least two and a half thousand years.
Push-ups and yoga
Hindu Pushups (hindu pushup) were known in the art of yoga around the second century AD, besides push-ups are part of the asanas “throw off» (Adho Mukha Svanasana) and “Rising Dog» (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana).
However, if the above asanas push-ups are performed slowly and with a deflection of the spine, the techniques used in the fighting power of variation exercises performed on a special stand (Takhteh Shena, English: Push up board).
Support for push-ups
The figure shows a classical variant of the support for push-ups, which became the prototype of many modern exercise machines and devices for the complexity of this exercise. Dimensions supports small: height of about 10 cm and length of 60 cm
Using the stand to push it increases the load on the muscles of the shoulder girdle and coaches the ability to keep balance of the body, because the structure is very unstable and easily during sharp turns or jerky movements.
What muscles are working during push-ups?
The main muscle groups involved in the exercise are the pectoral muscles, the muscles of the shoulder girdle and triceps. Also, for stabilization, with push-ups in operation include biceps muscles and the press housing.
Performing exercises on different variations involves muscle groups into work, and a lot depends on the width setting of hands and the use of supports. Fixed stand hand (for example, a bench) simplifies the exercise, and at his feet – complicated.
Proper technique
In the top of the movement the body should be rectified in line, and the hands should support its weight. Slowly lower down, almost touching the chest floor, make the cycle take a breath, and then lift the body up, straining the muscles of the chest at the same time.
Technique of the exercises for a comprehensive study of the body muscles, the press, pectoral and deltoid muscles – T-pushups .
How to learn to do push-ups right?
The two main points in the proper technique of push-ups: First, you should feel the work the pectoral muscles, and if you do not feel it, then start with the implementation of the vertical push-ups on the wall, trying to “catch” the feeling of the muscles.
Secondly, when performing push-ups monitor press and hold in tension glutes. Although it is much more difficult, it is critically important to load and maintain the straight position without bending back of the housing.
Errors exercise
Among the purely technical errors pushups can mark the position of the eyes (you should see a little bit in front of him, not straight down), and the position of the hands and wrists bend (be careful not to wring them too much).
All other errors are related primarily to the lack of development and lack of muscles necessary for the exercise of power – not pursue the implementation of a large number of “bad” push-ups, better do some, but technically correct.
Due to its simplicity and effectiveness of push-ups are one of the oldest exercise. Learning how to do push-ups is not that difficult, important to observe safety, and not just try to make the “big numbers.”